When it came to reggae bass playing, no one came close to having the influence of Robbie Shakespeare. As one-half of the Riddim Twins, a studio duo he formed with drummer Sly Dunbar, Shakespeare played on a very long list of albums. In addition to recording and/or producing albums for reggae artists as U-Roy, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Culture, Burning Spear, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Jimmy Cliff, Mighty Diamonds, Sugar Minott, Pablo MoSes, Chaka Demus Pliers, Augustus Pablo, Yellowman, and Black Uhuru, he and Dunbar provided their rhythmic and studio expertise for albums by such pop and rock stars as Mick Jagger, Joan Armatrading, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Yoko Ono, Grace Jones, and Ian Dury. With their own albums, they set the standard for scaled-down bass and drum dubbing. A veteran of such session bands as Bunny Lee's Aggrovators, Shakespeare first collaborated with Dunbar when they were members of the Channel One Studio house band the Revolutionaries. Deciding to try their luck as a duo, they formed an independent production company and record label in 1974, Taxi Records. Their first production, "Murder She Wrote" by Chaka Demus Pliers was a major hit and set them off on a path of success that lasted for decades. Shakespeare continued to expand the possibilities of his bass playing. Known for his creative use of electronics and production effects, he and Dunbar recorded an electro-reggae album with imaginative DJ Howie B. Shakespeare, and Dunbar produced the soundtracks for several films including Club Paradise, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Poetic Justice, and the all-time highest-grossing Jamaican film, Third World Cop. Robbie Shakespeare died on December 8, 2021 at the age of 68. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi